


R.O.Y.A.L. side-stories

by Tal_the_Alpaca_Queen



Series: R.O.Y.A.L. [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Blood and Injury, Child Abuse, Deaf Character, Gambling, Magic, Rats, Sparring, Witch Hunts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-20 17:50:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21060728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tal_the_Alpaca_Queen/pseuds/Tal_the_Alpaca_Queen
Summary: "Short" stories within the universe of Eth's story. Most are either expansions on glazed over scenes or just unseen. Some are properly shown scenes but from a different POV, A few aren't really canon, there will be notes when those ones come up. all written as possible stand alone's.





	1. The Burning

As the sun was setting on the 16th of July in the kingdom of Inallan the stake was almost finished. The knights of the city were setting the wood and flammable objects up meticulously. The bell signalling 6 o’clock rung loudly through the capital, it was promptly followed by another bell that made almost a shrieking sound when rung. When the people heard the second bell their hearts dropped as they made their way to the town center to watch what was to come. At the sound of the bell the royalty also made their way outside and they all watched from a balcony as the people gathered in, being overshadowed by the stake. 

The royalty was not in fear like the peasants, they were instead in mourning for what is to come. The royal family consisted of the king and queen along with their daughter and two sons, however on the balcony that day the daughter was absent. Suddenly once the streets were full, a set of guards all came out leading a woman with tied hands to the stake and tied her to it. No one would have batted an eye at the witch that was to be burned except for the fact of who was being burned. This woman had hair the color of gold held up in a bun on her head, her eyes were the color of emeralds, she wore no shoes, but she was covered in jewelry so extravagant that even royalty would be envious. She even had a crown to match her jewels.

As she was tied to the stake she made no protest, she only grinned as her fate was sealed. Once the guards stepped away the king addressed the people with a booming voice. “Stephanie of Inallan was caught practicing witchcraft, as is the law she will be burned at the stake. Let this be a warning, no matter who you are, if you practice the dark arts you will be caught and put on trial. Even if you are royalty” as he finished his speech the woman started laughing as the sun finally set. The king bowed his head and nodded to a guard, and suddenly the town center was bright as the stake was set ablaze.

There were no sounds, no screams escaped the princess's mouth, she just looked up at her family. The princes were silently crying and the queen was being held back by guards so that she didn't join the woman in flames. The townspeople were in shock at the pure truth that the king executed his own daughter. The last thing that the woman saw was flames as she felt her flesh burning off of her skin was her oldest brother trying to get down to her.

The flames fully enveloped the body of the woman as soon as her heart was no longer beating. Sobs were clear from the queen as she and her eldest son were being held back by the guards present. Though slightly softer a new sound was echoing, it was the sound of a woman's laughter. The royal family all stopped in fear because they knew that laugh, it was the laugh of the woman they had just burned. As the laughs grew louder the flames started swirling, the flames were so thick that nothing could be seen within the flames. Then suddenly the fire went out,all that was left was smoke that covered what was left of the stake.

As the smoke cleared a form was seen standing where the woman stood moments before. The form wore a pitch black cloak and seemed to only be a skeleton. They wore no other clothes besides the cloak, and they only wore one accessory. The figure wore a crown and with an eerily familiar voice only spoke the words “i'm back”


	2. The Boy Marked By Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its Eth!

On the 5th of October in the city of Inallan, a boy was born six months after his parents wed. His birth was under suspicion due to its proximity to the wedding so he was given an incomplete name, Eth. The boy’s father was a knight of the kingdom, so as soon as his name was given Eth was expected to follow in his footsteps. As the boy grew up his average brown hair started turning a different shade. This is a normal occurrence but for him it did not bode well. Instead of turning a lighter or darker brown, his hair turned red. Red hair was a mark of a witch, as were all abnormalities.

Witchcraft was not illegal in Inallan, it wouldn't be until Eth was fourteen. Though, it being legal didn’t mean it was accepted. No one wanted a witch as their son, not even a knight would risk such a disgrace. When the boy turned five his mother insisted on having a picnic with him down by the river. On Eth’s fifth birthday, he and his mother went down by the river to enjoy their lunch like she had planned. They laid out the food the two brought with them on the grass, and even though October brought a chill the mother suggested playing in the river before they ate. Eth being a five year old boy thought it was a great idea and ran down to the river to play, his mother followed behind him looking hesitant.

The river was loud and cold, so Eth didn't notice when his mother stepped in the water behind him. Eth didn't notice his mother’s hands on his back and head. Eth didn't realize he was being held in the cold water until he had been under for three seconds. Eth didn't notice the people watching until he was lifted from the water by a young girl. The girl who lifted him out of the water looked to be about eight years old. She had long black hair and mossy green eyes. She was dressed like a princess would be, and when she spoke she sounded as scared as the boy’s mother should of been, “Are you alright? Can you speak, are you in shock?”

The five year old didn't know what the term “in shock” meant, but he wasn’t the type to tell anyone that. “I'm okay. I'm cold,” was Eth’s response. The girl sighed in relief and helped him properly to his feet. Eth looked at her for only a few seconds before he put his hand out for a handshake like his father had taught him to do. “My name is Eth, yours?” he said with a grin. The girl shook his hand and smiled back “my name is Rachel Sparrow. Please, call me Fox.”


	3. The Guillotine Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> have some fun with Fox

The bar was loud, incredibly loud. Most of that noise was from the patrons’ conversations. The music that was being played by the woman in the corner was barely audible. There were more people in the bar than most nights, so no one noticed the young man with a covered face setting up a contraption on a table in the corner. As the he put together this object that looked incredibly dangerous, he started to draw a crowd. The crowd consisted of mostly drunk men looking for entertainment.

The contraption itself was simple, but clearly dangerous. It was blade being suspended in a wooden frame by a string, the wooden frame itself had a board with an opening for the blade to fall through at the bottom. The board at the bottom had two holes about big enough for a hand to go though. It looked like a guillotine, and the holes were stained a reddish brown. Off to the side there were sixteen strings connected to the top of the contraption.

The young man stood up and addressed the crowd he had drawn in, “hello ladies and gentlemen. My name is Fox and i see you've taken an interest in this contraption of mine.” The crowd was full of murmurs and vague comments and Fox’s eyes moved across them and he suddenly pointed at a man talking a bit louder than the others. “You sir, do you like to gamble?”  
“Of course there isn't a man in this building who don't.”  
“Good, good sit down on this side of the table,” Fox talked directly into the man’s ear as he led him to a chair in front of the contraption. “Now let me explain this game to all of you, it is fairly simple. We will get cards dealt to us and every round we have to put one down. Whoever puts down the lower card has to put their hand, or just a finger into one of the holes and cut a string. Then it starts over. Only one string connects to the one holding up the blade, the others do nothing,” Fox was grinning as every man and woman in the bar looked horrified at the thought of the game.

Fox sat down in a chair opposite of the one he told the loud man to sit in. He laughed loudly and spoke with amusement, “now, you don't have to play but I personally will vouch that this game is a lot of fun. I've also noticed that only cowards are afraid to play this game.” The moment the words came out of his mouth a very large man pushed his way through the crowd yelling, ”ill play!” Fox only laughed and dealt the man cards when he took a seat across from him. The two wasted no time getting into the game, both of them put their hands into the holes. It was only three cards in when the string fell and a man lost his hand. It was only three cards in when Fox had to dismantle his contraption and go to a different bar to play his game.


	4. The Dungeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just....Ashe

Before the prosperous kingdom Lacrymarum was united under the new king it was called Antegrem. Antegrem was under the rule of a tyrant king with no heirs. The king only had two twin nephews, both of which he started to raise to succeed him in the way he wished. One brother was named Ryan, he was strong, charming, and was a beautiful child. The other brother was named Ashe, he was nothing like his brother. Ashe was smarter than he was strong, he was terrible at social interactions, and he looked sickly.

It was clear to the king that Ryan would be the better choice to succeed him. After the twins’ fifth birthday the two were separated. Ryan was taken by the king, and Ashe was given to the king’s adviser. The twins were being raised to take their mentor’s place, and were being treated as such. Ryan was treated as a prince despite being born below that status, and Ashe was being treated as a peasant despite being born above that status. This treatment quickly made Ryan prideful, while Ashe descended into a depression. Ashe, in comparison to his brother had nothing to excel at as Ryan was better at everything than Ashe.

When the twins were nine Ashe started to play tricks on the castle staff. He would hide things, replace ingredients in the kitchen, scare the horses while the stablehands were standing very close, and would intercept the king’s meals so that he wouldn't get his food. Ashe was only caught once, and that was the last time he ever played a prank within the castle walls. Ashe was caught intercepting the king’s dinner by his mentor, the king's adviser. The boy was immediately dragged away while being scolded.

Ashe admitted that every one of the tricks was his doing, after he had been yelled at in a separate room for a long while. That of course only made his mentor more furious. He was so furious in fact that he dragged the boy through the halls and down an incredibly large set of stairs, right to the dungeons. The adviser only yelled, “you must stay in here for a full day without company!” before Ashe was thrown into the room and the door was shut behind him. The room itself was pitch black and smelled of mold, the entire room was seemingly made of stone as well. Ashe did his best to calm himself, though the darkness was not a comfort. He made his way into a corner and sat down, waiting for his mentor to come back and say he had changed his mind on the punishment. He didn't.

Ashe sat in the corner for hours and hours listening to nothing but his own breathing and the occasional sound of a rat scurrying across the stone. However on his fifteenth hour, long after his stomach had started to yearn for food, he heard a rough voice say, “wow kid, you must’ve really done somethin’ to make ‘em mad at ya huh? They ain't even feedin’ ya.” This startled Ashe so much that he jumped up, he knew no one had come into the room after him.  
“Who are you! How did you get in here, no one was here when I came in!” he screamed into the darkness.   
In response all he heard was laughter. The boy yelled into the dark again, “that isn't an answer!”

“Well then, ya can actually understand me eh? Sit back down kid, I won’ hurt ya,” Ashe did as the voice said because in his eyes he had no choice. He was trembling as something was pushed into his leg while the voice continued to speak, ”eat that stuff right next to ya, it won’ taste good but your hungry” Ashe was silent for minutes waiting for an explanation, he never got one so when his stomach growled once again he picked up the thing next to him and took a bite. It tasted like an odd uncooked meat but he ate it anyways. 

After he finished eating he stared off into the darkness once again “what was that,” was all he asked. He got laughter in response once again then a different voice piped up from the other side of the room it sounded female “you just ate rat, don't worry you won't be sick from it”  
“Oh okay...i suppose” was Ashe’s wide eyed response. He continued to talk to the strange voices in the dark all the way until his mentor opened the door to let him out. When the light poured into the room Ashe saw that there really was no one else in there only two rats standing across from where he was sitting.


	5. The Sparring Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gale and Eth spar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah this one is super short. but i think its cute so meh.

Gale and Eth were standing in the training grounds in the middle of the night on the third of September. “Why the hell did you bring me out here this late Gale” Eth stood with an air of annoyance as the newly christened knight stood staring at him. “You plan on becoming a knight don't you”   
“Yeah no shit, I wouldn't be here if I didn't”

At that the knight picked up two swords that were discarded and tossed one on the ground in front of Eth, while holding the other in his own hand and taking a stance. “Pick up the sword, i want to see how well you can fight.” Eth picked up the sword but froze when he noticed that it wasn't a training sword. “Dude we could kill each other with these”  
“And?”  
Gale looked fully unfazed as Eth readjusted his stance. “Now attack me” “What!?” “attack me like you want me dead, i'll say if you need to stop.” The faux blonde nodded and rushed forward, he was faster than most other knights in training but was easily deflected by Gale. when the knight counterattacked it was strong enough that it made Eth lose his balance and stumble. That moment was used to knock the sword out of his hand and push him to the ground.

The knight pointed his sword at the younger boy’s head. “Your not good enough to be a knight”  
“Fuck you!” It was said in pure anger but this just made Gale laugh and he lowered his weapon as he addressed the younger boy again. “Okay so how about this, you and me will spar normally.”  
“Well why would you want to spar with someone who isn't good enough to be a knight.”   
“because your the second best fighter our age and i like you more than the adults.” Eth had to pause at that and gave the other an odd look as he continued. “I want you to get better at fighting anyways”  
“what happens when i win against you”   
“*if* you win, ill buy you a desert from a bakery or something”  
''DEAL!” It was the first time Gale had ever seen the boy genuinely smile, as he helped his new friend up the determined smile was still plastered to his face when he grabbed the sword “Okay let's go again, i am going to win that chocolate cake” Gale decided that the smile was his new favorite sight.


	6. New Knight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A.Z.A.

A.z.a walked out to the training grounds of the new kingdom she was to stay in. the hierarchy was clear the instant she saw who was sparring against who. The adults would fight two younger people at a time or they would stay within their age group, though they all seemed fine mixed around. All of them had skills of just the average guard or lower knight so there were no threats, though the boy that looked to be her age that was sitting around was a wildcard.

She didn't hear the footsteps behind her as she was lost in thought, suddenly a voice that sounded young spoke up behind her. “Hello! Your the knew knight right? I haven't seen you around before so I just figured” A.z.a turned around to see a boy who seemed not much younger than her smiling kindly. He had red hair and purple eyes, objectively he looked nice. “Yes that would be me, my name is ability zero assassin” the boy cocked his head “that's not even a name, i'm calling you Aza.” “it is a name, its my name and i never gave you permission to call me that.” he just smiled

“Well i'm a knight so i am considered your equal. My name is Eth by the way” Eth put his hand out for a handshake which was returned. “If I may ask Eth, how old are you and who is the person doing nothing over there” Eth looked over to the boy then back to her “well i'm fifteen and that would be gale, he is also a knight” “then why isn't he sparring with anyone like all the others” “well we only spar with each other so he was waiting for me. He is better than all of the guards by a bit so sparring for him isn't much against them.” aza figured that probably meant the boy in front of him was fairly skilled as well. “Thank you, I suppose that means i'm going to be around you guys a bit then. Since i'm actually skilled at fighting.” as soon as the words were said Eth's eyes lit up and he grabbed her wrist dragging her over to Gale “Gale guess what!” 

“oh dear gods what is it now” 

“NEW FRIEND!” the yell got the attention of every guard in the courtyard but only for a second. Aza was confused by the boy but…. She found herself fond of him so she came to the conclusion that she would stay around him if he can.


End file.
